The Notes That Make up a Song
by Endless Strategy Games
Summary: A series of short stories about Yuzu Hiragi.
1. Fun and Games

"Fantasia Maiden Aria, direct attack!" a 10 year old Yuzu declared. The likewise younger Yuya desperately scrambled through the Solid Vision generated "Forest" field to grab an action card, but Yuzu's monster sang a note that summoned a compressed spear of air to strike Yuya before he had the chance. He fell back from the shock of the blast as his life points dropped to zero.

Yuya pulled himself up from the realistic grass floor. "Ah, looks like you win, Yuzu."

"Yeah..." Yuzu looked around at the forest. "Yuya, the duel's over. Do you know why the solid vision hasn't disappeared?"

Yuya grinned and walked over to her. "Yeah, I set it to stay active after the duel was over."

"What? Why for?" In response Yuya quickly extended his hand to tap her shoulder, then pulled it back.

"Tag! You're it!" Yuya took off running.

Like with much of Yuya's antics, Yuzu's initial response was irritation. "Hey, don't decide something like this on your own! We did a lot of running in that duel, aren't you worn out?"

"Nope!" Yuya shouted happily, weaving through some trees. "C'mon, I know you've played this game before."

"Mh, fine. But once I catch you this is over."

"If you catch me," Yuya said as he grabbed a tree branch and started climbing.

Yuzu smiled and ran after him.


	2. Repayment

More than an hour after Yuya's duel with Strong Ishijima, he, Yuzu and the others were finally able to leave the duel Arena.

It was the reporters that had waylaid them. They'd asked Yuya the typical questions you'd ask the person who'd beaten the champion (Yuzu would need some time to get used to thinking about Yuya like that). "What were your strategies going into the match?" "How did you feel while dueling?" "Who is you favorite duelist?" Trivial questions like that. Lots of people had asked about his last turn. A few even asked if he cheated.

Ridiculous. Even if that combo seemed impossible on the face of it, Yuya would never do something like that. Besides, the central duel system hadn't been hacked in decades. Even altering a normal duel had a chance of nearly zero. Figure in that the duel was an exhibition match, processed directly through the Leo Corporation servers, and you might as well leave out the "nearly" bit. The cards had hidden effects registered into the system; it was as simple as that and everyone knew it. How Yuya discovered those effects was a different matter, but Yuzu wouldn't pry. The reporters had done enough of that, but after several minutes of Yuya playing dumb (at least she thought he was playing) they gave up.

Now that they had the chance, the whole group was talking about the match with Yuya. Yuzu's father was commending Yuya's tenacity, saying his victory would bring much renown to his school. Noboru said something lame about how "real men don't leave people in suspense during a duel," although by his tone of voice he might have been joking. Yuya's mother was saying how proud she was of him. And Yuzu…

Yuzu wanted to thank Yuya. Although everything had turned out for the best, Yuya had still taken on the stress and potential humiliation of dueling Strong Ishijima. And he'd done it partly for her.

Even if his antics had made Yuzu lose her temper, Yuzu was ultimately the one who had broken the solid vision generator. She had known that from the start, she just needed to cool her head before she could accept it. And now, thinking of what could have been; her father tearfully shutting the doors to his duel school that he and Yuya's father had founded together, Yuzu felt intense gratitude that it hadn't turned out that way. She couldn't do anything extravagant, but from this point on she'd find ways to repay Yuya. Starting with…

"Hey, Yuya?" Yuzu said, cutting through the conversation.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"To celebrate, do you want to go out for ice cream? I'll treat."

"Yeah, I'd like that." He got the biggest grin on his face. "After all, that's nothing less than what the city's strongest duelist deserves!" She hit him over the head with her fan.

"You're not the only duelist here you know. I've beaten you more times than you've beaten me." Tsk, letting the victory get to his head. She'd repay him, but that didn't mean she was going to tolerate his behavior.


	3. Recital

The lights were dimmed in the concert hall. Each row of seating was packed with parents, siblings and friends come to see the year-end performance. The first act was coming to a close with a solo. All eyes were on Yuzu.

She sang an elaborate song, one that required her to quickly move up and down the scale. But there was no hesitation in her voice. She sang clearly, as if each note coming from her mouth had been purified to its most undiluted form. The song was solemn, but there was an unmistakable energy underlying it. She had made the song her own.

The last note rang out, and a moment later the crowd erupted into applause. Some of it out of politeness, but the vast majority of the applause Yuzu had earned. Ayu, Yuya and Gongenzaka were applauding loudly in the back, with a few of Yuzu's other acquaintances from school sprinkled throughout the auditorium. Not that Yuzu saw them; it was professional to keep one's eyes from wandering during or after a performance. That was why one man had placed himself where he couldn't possibly be missed.

"Yeah, that's my girl! You were on fire!" her father Shuzou said, standing up in the front and giving her 5 claps a second. Even if he were in the back with the others, Yuzu still would've been able to hear him. It was embarrasing, but even as Yuzu's face reddened she fought back the urge to sheepishly rub her head until the curtains had closed.

Shuzou sat back down. "You must be proud," a young black-haired woman sitting next to him said. "Your daughter has quite a talent." Shuzou gave a wide grin. In grand parenting tradition, this would probably be the part where he showed Yuzu's baby pictures, if he had brought them.

"Yeah, you should've seen her when she was just 4 or 5. Trying to sing along to her favorite songs from movies, totally off-key. She's practiced hard though. Come a long way."

* * *

Shuzou received multiple blows from Yuzu's paper fan once they got home, but Shuzou was far too happy to care. Yuzu tried to extract a promise from him to tone himself down in the future, a promise he would give but surely break the next time he got caught up in emotion. And perhaps that was for the best. Shuzou loved letting everyone know what he thought of his daughter, and though Yuzu was loathe to admit it sometimes, she liked having her father's devotion.


End file.
